General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Holdings Reduced by National Pension Service

National Pension Service decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 884,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 462,089 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in General Mills were worth $56,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in General Mills by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 3,504.8% in the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DDD Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,776,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 1.2 %

General Mills stock opened at $59.99 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.15 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.33.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.06.

General Mills Profile

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.